The Ace and The Queen
by ShatteredHearts13
Summary: Charlie Matheson is serving a one year prison sentence at the FBI as a consultant to Special Agent Bass Monroe. She's full of tricks, he's full of rules. Compromise is key... isn't it?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

Charlie Matheson's POV.

Charlie Matheson combs the hair out of her face with her fingers and stares at her reflection in the mirror for the twentieth time that morning, freckles and hollow blue eyes staring back at her in resignation.

 _'_ _The FBI is the place where criminal go to get put away, not to be let loose'_ her inner monologue voices to her and she tries to shush it but it still lingers. So does the uneasy fear, but she ignores that feeling entirely. Her clothes are high end, the silk vest hugging her breasts and waist, her jeans hugging the rest of her as if her clothes will blind them enough to not look at _her._

"It's better than prison." She mutters and shrugs on her leather jacket, peering out her apartment window at the standard FBI SUV outside. Her ride for the day. The joys of being FBI property.

"It's better than prison." She says again but this time differently. Solid and steady. After all, that is the Charlie Matheson the FBI are expecting.

Bass Monroe's POV

Special Agent Bass Monroe eyes the clock in barely maintained agitation, the slow move of the minute handing making his hand itch toward his office phone to see what's taking so long before reminding himself yet again, he is early. The agents in the bullpen are already in full swing, his office door left open enough that the chatter resonates into his office and its familiarity grounds him.

The paperwork he keeps eyeing sits in a neat folder on his desk, the folder marked in bold red CONFIDENTAL and he thumbs through it yet again even though he knows it word for word.

'Charlie Matheson is being released into the custody of the FBI for consultant and informational purposes that are to be overseen by Special Agent in Charge; Sebastian Monroe. The asset will have a tracker on them at all times with a radius that will be set by said Special Agent in Charge. The asset will be serving a year term with the FBI unless otherwise advised by said Special Agent in Charge or any other disciplinary board the FBI sees fit to assemble.'

It's a bad idea. He knows this. Hell, he spent four years chasing her through countries and cities and precious monuments that he later got shit for. Yet catching her wasn't as sweet as he thought it would be, how he envisioned it would be after all these years and late nights stuck in this very office imagining her in orange. Sometimes, occasionally nothing at all. But seeing her, blue eyes and a smirk on her lips when he sat across from her and read her the charges; art forgery, bond forgery and many others he promised to find her guilty for, the more he read, the more he realized that she doesn't belong in a cell doing nothing for a year. She should be bringing others like her to justice.

He snorts and sits back in his chair. If he's being honest with himself, he knows there's more than that shitty reason he gave his bosses. He's intrigued by her, all legs and messy hair and a smile that doesn't stop, even when he knows it can't be real. And of course her uncle being his best friend didn't help him at all. A criminal, his best friends a criminal and yet Mile's claims he's retired, done with the life and Bass chooses to believe him, chooses to have his best friend for awhile.

Bass doesn't see her at first until she walks through the clear glass doors from the elevator, escorted by two men who are doing more ogling her ass than being actual agents and he sighs. Typical of Charlie to seduce two accomplished agent's moments into her first day.

He leaves his office to meet her halfway, but stays on the second level so she has to look up at him which she does with an infuriating smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Sebastian." She says his name with a lick of honey in her words and he notes how quiet the bullpen has gotten since she entered, agents grabbing glances of her from their place in the bullpen and he pretends he doesn't see what the other two agents were ogling.

"Charlotte." He uses her full name to get a rise out of her and watches as he expression lifts to something close to a challenge before she smiles again.

"Isn't there some paperwork I should be signing?" She says it sweet and Bass knows that she's going to have words for him and sighs before ushering her towards his office, watching as she takes the stairs two at a time in heels, pretend oblivious of the stares burning into her back.

He holds the door for her and watches as she drops into the chair across from his desk and eyes him as he slowly sits, her head tilted as she watches him with the smile still on her face, as if it was glued there.

"How were your escorts this morning?"

She snorts, "Are they FBI agents or two boys who've never seen a girl before?"

Bass shakes his head, "Once we set the tracker up, you wont need them."

"Thank fuck." Charlie mumbles and Bass chuckles. "Never heard someone grateful for a tracker."

Charlie glares at him, "I'd rather a tracker than two horny boys."

Bass chuckles but grabs the folder and goes through the pages, pulling out the ones she needs to sign and placing them face up for her.

She grabs the finished stack and reads through them and he watches her expression carefully as resignation is softly etched across her face, barely visible but there.

"It's just a year Charlie." He says quietly and he watches her smile blindingly so.

"I'm lucky Bass. Most people would get four years minimum for the things I plead guilty for. I got one year, out of prison. That's lucky." She picks up the pen and scrawls her initials beside the _x_ 's. "I'm assuming you're not going to forget to put at tracker on me huh?"

"You're not that lucky Charlie. C'mon we'll go get you fitted."

Her heels click as she follows him to the elevator and she leans against the wall as the floor numbers flash above them.

"They'll quit staring eventually." Bass says, watching as she shrugs as if two dozen people hadn't stared at her all the way out.

"I'm the shiny new thing, staring happens. Maybe don't send them on any undercover ops."

Bass chuckles and ushers Charlie into the waiting elevator, noting the smell of vanilla and cinnamon as she walks by him.

"Where are we going?" She leans her body against the steel railing lining the elevator and he pushes the button for the lobby.

"We have to go downtown to get you fitted."

"Why?"

Bass looks down at her unabashedly. "The FBI doesn't trust that you won't be able to pick our tracking devices, so they had one custom made."

"I'm that special huh?"

Bass rolls his eyes as they exit the elevator, "I knew I shouldn't have told you."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"It's tight." She pulls lightly at the leather choker, running her fingers around and noting the magnetic security clasp that connects the two ends together.

Bass shrugs, "It's either that or an anklet and with what you're wearing; I don't think you could hide it."

Charlie rolls her eyes and fiddles again with the clasp again, glaring at Bass when he tsks at her.

"You try to take that thing and you'll have a dozen FBI agents at your place before you have time to run." He warns her and she glares before letting her hand drop from the choker to her hair as she pulls it back from her face to inspect the choker in the mirror.

"I guess it'll do." She keeps her voice nonchalant as she examines it. It really is a piece of art: thick black leather wrapping her throat, a single sapphire that almost looks real winking at her from the hollow of her throat. And of course, the almost invisible wire intertwined through the leather, no place to safely cut and escape.

Bass watches her admire the gem and smirks, "GPS tracking Matheson so we know where you are every moment of every day."

He catches her eye roll in the mirror but dismisses it as he lightly grasps her elbow and propels her away from the mirror, nodding politely to the techs as they exit the warehouse into blinding sunlight.

"Let's grab lunch." Bass starts to walk, making Charlie jog a couple paces to catch up with him.

"Lunch?"

"Lunch." Bass repeats as he continues to stride along the sidewalk. "You still like burgers and milkshakes?"

"Does it say that in the FBI's analyzed report of me?" Charlie asks him as she easily keeps up with him, her long legs matching his pace as she stares straight ahead, maneuvering between people as they walk.

"Nine-year-old Charlie Matheson liked burgers." Bass says matter of factly making Charlie pause and he continues, "unless of course in your new life of riches and art, you've lost all sense of taste."

"Burgers are fine." Charlie says quietly and Bass notes a note of sorrow in her tone even as her face gives nothing away and he kicks himself for the earlier comment.

They walk in silence another three blocks before Bass gently stops her in front of a diner and holds the door open for her, feeling the cool rush of air conditioning on his face as he enters behind her.

He gestures for her to order first and grins when she orders a burger- with cheese of course, fries and a strawberry shake, stilling her hand after it's slid into her vest for the twenty she pulls out and moving her to the side so he can order and pay, trying to make up for earlier in the way he knows works with Charlie. Food.

"You didn't have to do that." Charlie says as she tries to hand the twenty to Bass. He shakes it off and she finally places it back where it came from as they take a seat at one of the tables and wait for their food.

Bass watches Charlie people watch, his eyes catching onto a little girl that looks similar to what Charlie looked liked as a child. Blonde curls, blue eyes a little lighter than Charlie's had been and a polka dot dress, the green dots jumping out against the white. She's concentrated on the coloring sheet in front of her, the crayons neatly aligned as she scribbles in the lines.

"I'm sorry about before." Bass says, grazing Charlie's hand lightly to get her attention.

Charlie stares at him for a moment before sighing. "It's easy to forget you once knew me. Hell, it's easy for me to forget what then even felt like. It's like….that Charlie was from another lifetime." She toys with the napkin on the table uncomfortably. "I don't even remember how I was before dad and Danny died, just who I became."

"Thirteen years is a lot of time." Bass murmurs.

"Something like that." Charlie says and the way she says it makes Bass pause but not push.

"The anniversary is coming up." Bass says instead making Charlie smile sadly.

"This is the first year in awhile I'll actually be able to visit them."

Bass looks surprised. "There were always flowers on their graves."

Charlie shrugs. "Had them delivered. I knew the moment I stepped foot in the cemetery it would be over and…I wasn't ready for it to be over. I mean maybe I could have escaped, run, gotten out of the city, maybe even the county but when I saw them again, I wanted it to be a time when I could stay awhile. Sit and talk to them. Be someone they remembered."

* * *

Their food comes and they eat in silence, both lost in thought until Bass's cell rings loudly through the diner making some of the patrons jump. Bass looks at the number and then answers, motioning for Charlie to stay and finish as he gets up and walks outside, leaving Charlie alone until the little girl wanders over to her.

"Would you like to color?" the girl asks her and Charlie glances up to find the girls mother smiling warmly at her and Charlie finds herself smiling back.

"I would love to." Charlie says, clearing the table of the food before snagging two new coloring sheets from the counter along with a pack of crayons.

"I'm Masha." The girl tells Charlie, laying out her crayons in a neat line in front of her.

"I'm Charlie." She tells the girl and the girl nods before picking up a crayon and writing her name in the right hand corner.

"This is what we do in school." Masha informs Charlie as she hands Charlie a crayon to write her name.

Charlie writes her name in clear letters when she feels rather than sees Masha sigh. "What's wrong?" Charlie asks her.

"I've already done this one!" Masha slumps in her chair looking disappointed at her coloring sheet and Charlie smiles deviously.

"Well, how about I make you a knew one?"

Masha sits up straight and looks at Charlie with wide eyes, "You can do that?"

Charlie nods rigorously. "I sure can." She stops one of the servers walking by her. "You don't happen to have a black marker do you?"

Bass sighs as he runs his fingers through his hair and takes a breath. Getting off the phone with his superior about the Museum of Art was not a call he wanted to ever get, especially being told to put Charlie into the field immediately. He was hoping to ease her in, let her read through a few case files, spend some time in the office getting to know everyone, especially his team who she would be working closely with. But when one of the most prestigious museums calls him to say they think their new painting is a forgery, he knows what's expected of him.

He rubs his hand over his face before going back into the diner, distracted by his thoughts until he sees the girl Charlie was watching sitting with her coloring. He observes silently as the pair are lost in a world of colors and designs until Bass notices the intricate design the girl is coloring in, nothing like what the other kids in the diner are coloring.

Charlie senses Bass's presence and glances up in a sly grin before going back to the design she was creating, Masha's eyes constantly darting from her new coloring page to the one Charlie is working on.

"Masha," Charlie says, putting a comforting hand on the girls back as she glances up to look at Charlie, "this is Special Agent Monroe."

Bass squats down to be Masha's height sitting down and smiles at her. "You can call me Bass if you'd like."

Masha smiles at him shyly before cupping her hands and whispering something in Charlie's ear that makes Charlie smile.

"She wants to know what Special Agent means." Charlie informs him, her voice full of amusement.

Bass smiles and pulls out his badge and shows it to the girl. "It means I get to work for the FBI."

"It means he puts allll the bad guys away." Charlie tells the girl and Bass is surprised to note the sincerity in her tone instead of sarcasm.

"What are you coloring?" Bass asks Masha and can't help but grin when she bounces excitedly.

"Charlie made me a coloring sheet." Masha says, picking up her crayons and resuming her coloring, letting Bass take in the princess riding on top of a wolf, the background a scene of trees and mountains.

Bass's gaze shifts to the one Charlie is working on and he takes in a portrait of Masha, the detail so lifelike he has to keep himself from touching it.

Bass wants to stay here with this girl and Charlie, watching Charlie work magic on the piece of paper with a sharpie no less, but he knows they must leave. Orders are orders.

Regretfully he places his hand on her shoulder and leans close to her ear. "We have to go." He says softly in her ear, noting the outbreak of goosebumps that lace her skin from his proximity.

She nods and hands the portrait over to Masha. "I have to go now, but you take all of this to your mom."

Masha looks up excitedly at Charlie. "I get to keep this?!" she exclaims making Charlie laugh.

"Of course. I made it for you."

Bass watches in wonder as the little girl clutches bot her drawings to her chest before hugging Charlie and running back over to her mom.

"You good?" Bass asks Charlie, watching as a mask falls into place as she nods.

"Yeah I'm fine." She says as she starts making her way through the diner.

"Excuse me." Charlie stops and turns to find Masha's mother waving her down and she smiles despite herself.

"Thank you for putting up with Masha." The woman says smiling at Masha who's coloring in a flurry. "You're very talented. Do you have a career in art?" She asks, her face open and warm.

"Something like that." Charlie responds and even though she smiles, it isn't filled with anything. ****

 **Its been a hot minute since I've updated any of my stories but I'm definitely trying to update now that I've got a month of time :)**

 **For anyone still reading this story even though its been forever, you guys are the best!**

 **Reviews are loved**

 **Xx**


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